Leslie Gordon Chandler

Leslie Gordon Chandler (1888–1980) was an Australian jeweller, vigneron, bird photographer, writer and speaker on natural history, and ornithologist. He became a member of the Royal Australasian Ornithologists Union (RAOU) in 1911 and was Press Correspondent for the RAOU 1914-1916 and again in 1920, war service and disability intervening. From 1920 he was based at Red Cliffs in the Victorian Mallee region. He was instrumental in the establishment of the Hattah-Kulkyne National Park there.

Early life Leslie Chandler (always known as 'Les') was born on January 11, 1888, in the Melbourne suburb of Malvern, fourth child of English-born parents Robert Charles Chandler and Ellen, née Mead(e)s, moving with his family to The Basin in the Dandenong Ranges where he was schooled locally. Later attending Bayswater State School, his love of nature was inspired as he walked nearly each day to school through the towering forests of the Dandenong Ranges on the outskirts of Melbourne, often making long detours to observe.

Ornithology and photography Meeting of Royal Australasian Ornithologists Union (RAOU) with members Dr J. Leach, Les Chandler, C. McLennan, C. Barrett, A.J. Campbell, Dudley Le Souef, T. Tregallas, Z. Gray, Gregory Mathews March 10, 1914

His texts are often cited in current ornithological papers, with Woinarski and Recher for example noting the value of his observations, remarking that "Weather conditions following fire also influence bird responses, with Chandler (1973) noting that drought post-fire may accentuate the fire impact. Chandler's observation is astute and it is difficult to separate the effects of drought from that of fire as most wildfires tend to occur during dry periods"

WW1 service Chandler signed up with the Australian Imperial Force on 8 July 1915, taking his camera with him to the Western Front, despite photography there being banned. Bayonet training at Seymour Army Camp persuaded him that "he couldn't kill anybody, just couldn't face that," as his daughter Mary remembered. He volunteered instead as a stretcher-bearer in the 15th Field Ambulance, in which he served on the Western Front, in Egypt, and Belgium.

As a soldier-settler under the Victorian Government's "Act to make provision for the Settlement of Discharged Soldiers on the Land and for other purposes" of 22 October 1917, Chandler was granted an allotment of Crown Land of Mallee scrub which he cleared and fenced to create a vineyard for the production of dried sultana grapes and an orchard. A government loan of £500 (worth about $35,000.00 in 2021) on which interest was to be paid, provided the initial capital for returned servicemen, though the land they farmed was what was left over in a largely settled Victoria. On repayment of the initial investment, a further £500 could be granted provided the farming was successful, and The Queenslander notes that "Messrs. Whitcombe and Tombs, Ltd. have published a really choice selection of Australian nature story readers, including..."Jacky, the Butcher Bird," by L. G. Chandler...all thoroughly tested Australian stories, as Australian as the gum tree, and the cheap, well-printed re print brings them within the reach of everybody."

In addition to making photographs many of his activities, often making self-portraits with a bulb release, from 1900 Chandler kept a life-long diary in shorthand. His 1935 Walkabout article details evidence of Aboriginal occupation in north-west Victoria in kitchen-middens, and trees from which canoes, coolamons and shields have been cut and the method used to trap codfish under trees.

Conservationist alt=Peter Neaum (n.d.) Silhouette colour photograph of sunrise over the reflecting waters of Lake Mournpall, surrounded by low scrub, Hattah-Kulkyne National Park. Peter Neaum (n.d.) Sunrise over Lake Mournpall, Hattah-Kulkyne National Park. Naturalists Donald Macdonald and Charles Barrett, and later his work with E. Brooke Nicholls and bird photographer Arthur Mattingley, influenced Chandler. He was a foundation member of the Mildura Historical Society in 1949 and, with the late Reverend C. L. Lang, formed the Sunraysia Naturalists' Club (now the Sunraysia Naturalists' Research Trust) being variously its president, Vice-president, Secretary, Treasurer and Editor. They agitated to have the Hattah-Kulkyne area declared a National Park, with success coming in 1960.

Personal life Among Chandler's friends were poet C. J. Dennis, literary patron Jack Moir, cartoonist Hal Gye, sculptor Web Gilbert and painter Tom Roberts.

He married Ivy Henshall at St Andrew's Presbyterian Church, Mordialloc, Victoria, 10 September 1931 and their daughter Mary was born in 1937. Mary Chandler, who died 2020, was an historian and writer whose publications include her edited volume of her father's letters Dear homefolks : letters written by L.G. Chandler during the First World War and of chronicles of their home town, Against the odds : the story of the Red Cliffs settlement, and of environmental history in Tribal lands to national park, with pictures by her father, on the Hattah/Kulkyne National Park.

Chandler sold his vineyard in 1956 and moved to Red Cliffs where he died on 25 January 1980.

Awards 1950 Australasian Photo-Review Recognition Medal 1961 Honorary Life Membership Royal Australasian Ornithologists Union Honorary Life Member, Sunraysia Naturalists' Research Trust

Publications Books

Journal articles Chandler published hundreds of articles and photographs, in addition to his books.

Chandler, L.G. (1965). "Eileen Ramsay's story – four years after." Riverlander November 1965, 8–9.

Exhibitions 2021 Soldier Settler, Magnet Galleries, Melbourne 2021 Mildura Arts Centre joint show with work of Eileen Ramsay, to 25 April (Anzac Day). 2016 Grief and Glory inclusion, Magnet Galleries, Melbourne 1932 Bolton Camera Club Annual International Exhibition of Pictorial and Scientific Photography, April 2 - April 9, 1931 Seventy-sixth Annual Exhibition of The Royal Photographic Society of Great Britain, September 12 - October 10, 1930 Seventy-fifth Annual Exhibition of The Royal Photographic Society of Great Britain, September 13 - October 11, 1929 Pacific International Salon of Photographic Art, September 18–28, 1929 Pacific International Salon of Photographic Art, October 5–15, 1929 Seventy-fourth Annual Exhibition of the Royal Photographic Society of Great Britain, September 14 - October 12, 1929 Second International Invitation Salon of the Camera Club of New York, May 1–15, June 6–30, May 16 - June 5, 1929 1928 Seventy-third Annual Exhibition of the Royal Photographic Society of Great Britain, September 17 - October 13